Oldest mummy in the US will finally get a proper burial: ‘Stoneman Willie’ has been on display in a funeral home for 128 years

America’s oldest mummy, which has been on display inside a Pennsylvania funeral home for 128 years, is set to receive a proper burial.

Known only as “Stoneman Willie,” the man was an alcoholic who died of kidney failure in a local jail on November 19, 1895, and was accidentally embalmed by a mortician who was experimenting with new embalming techniques.

The man’s true identity is unknown because he gave a false name when he was arrested over a century ago for pickpocketing.

His body will receive its final rites She will be taken in procession to nearby Forest Hills Memorial Park for burial on October 7.

The man known as “Stoneman Willie” has been on display at a Pennsylvania funeral home since his death in 1895

His hair and teeth remained intact, and his skin became leathery

The thin man wears a black suit and tie as he lies inside a coffin at the funeral home. His hair and teeth remained intact, and his skin became leathery.

Auman Funeral Home said it has now identified Stoneman Willie using historical documents and will release his name later this week when they bury the body.

Until now, not much has been known about him other than his Irish roots.

“We don’t refer to him as a mummy.” “We refer to him as our friend Willie,” said Kyle Blankenbiller, funeral director.

“It’s just become an icon, part of the stories not just of Reading’s past but certainly of its present.”

The man’s true identity is unknown because he gave a false name when he was arrested over a century ago for pickpocketing.

He was accidentally mummified by a mortician while experimenting with new mummification techniques

Historical documents show that Stoneman Wylie was preserved by Theodor Ohmann, a mortician experiments with the innovative arterial embalming – a technique still relatively new in the late 19th century.

Before that, bodies were stored on ice until burial.

The procedure entails injecting embalming fluid into an artery, which displaces blood, and a drainage tube facilitates the removal of blood from a vein.

said local historian George M. Meeser XI Washington Post Ohman mixed his own recipe with formalin, a chemical used in the mummification process.

The excess amount petrified the man’s body.

The thin man wears a black suit and tie as he lies inside a coffin at the funeral home

His body will receive its final rites and be taken in procession to nearby Forest Hills Memorial Park for burial on October 7.

Stoneman Willie gave the alias of James Penn when he was arrested after being found inside a local boarding house with a gold watch, a razor and money in his hands – all of which he had stolen.

The 37-year-old died after the fight Gastritis, which progresses to severe uremia or end-stage renal disease.

Historical documents have identified Stoneman Willie’s real name, which will be written at the bottom of his tombstone when his body is buried this weekend.